Perth Kangaroos International Football Club was a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia. Perth Kangaroos played as an overseas team in the 1994 season of the

FAS Premier League The Football Association of Singapore Premier League was a semi-professional football league competition held in Singapore between 1988 and 1995. The Premier League succeeded the National Football League Division One as the top tier of the Singapo ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and won the league title. The team was a forerunner of the Australian

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

soccer club

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

History

Perth Kangaroos was put together in 1994 by Global Football Australia, a consortium led by businessman Joe Claudio.

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

had been keen to be represented in Australia's

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

(NSL) since it was formed in 1977, but a series of logistical problems and financial concerns meant that the league were not keen to include a Western Australian club. It was hoped that entering a team in the Singapore league would either help pave the way for entry into the NSL or, alternatively, help the Perth club establish a place in a mooted Asia-Pacific Super League which could become a sporting and financial empire. The Kangaroos were one of two Australian teams to compete in the

in 1994 – the other being the Darwin Cubs. The team was captained initially by Craig Naven, and later by his brother

Gareth Naven Gareth Naven (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian football coach and former player. He is currently the development officer at Football West and coach of Bayswater City SC in the NPL. Playing career Naven was born in 1969 in the English tow ...

, under manager Gary Marocchi and assistant manager Mickey Brennan. On the field, the Perth Kangaroos were a tremendous success. They finished the 1994 league season undefeated and comfortably won the Singapore league title. However off the field the venture was a financial disaster. Attendances at the matches were far lower than expected, and part way through the season Global Football Australia had to declare itself bankrupt and hand over control of the team to the

Soccer Association of Western Australia Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

. The Kangaroos were disbanded after the 1994 season. However their success in the Singapore league gained the NSL's attention. In 1995, another Perth-based consortium led by

Nick Tana Nick Tana is the former chairman of the Australian association football club Perth Glory. He had been the chairman and the majority shareholder of Perth Glory from the club's inception in 1995 until 2006. Tana is the former owner of fast food c ...

successfully bid for entry into the NSL.

were created and joined the NSL in 1996. In 2005, Perth Glory were selected to enter the re-vamped Australian national league, the A-League.

Honours

Domestic

: :Champions (1):

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

References

External links

Perth Kangaroos: A History (at Western Australian Soccer Page)

Paying tribute to the Kangaroos

The forgotten story of ... Perth Kangaroos - The Guardian
{{AUS fb state WA , state=collapsed Defunct soccer clubs in Australia Foreign teams in Singapore football leagues Soccer clubs in Perth, Western Australia Association football clubs established in 1994 Association football clubs disestablished in 1994 1994 establishments in Australia 1994 disestablishments in Australia Expatriated football clubs

History

Honours

Domestic

See also

References

External links